There’s a way sitting down to journal seems to pause time, similar to how lighting a candle with a familiar scent can transport you to a specific place. For model and entrepreneur Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, it’s precisely the slowness in these small rituals that became the foundation for Mémoire, her new luxury keepsake brand. “I've always been drawn to objects that hold meaning and things that have been lived with, rather than simply owned,” Huntington-Whiteley tells Vogue. “I'm one of those people that collects all birthday cards, all my children’s drawings. These are the kind of things that really inspired this idea of objects holding memories.”
There was a time when gestures like a handwritten note were commonplace: “My mother’s generation used to send thank-you cards, write diary entries, that’s simply how they went about things,” she says. “And now, we’re seeking out the analog world because it feels like an old tradition gone by.” Alongside Westview Ventures founders Meaghan Cox, Julia Hunter, Hanna Paison, and Jackie McCabe, who she tapped to co-found Mémoire, Huntington-Whiteley used this sensibility as a guiding light. The result: a highly limited, carefully considered collection (just seven items, to be exact), with each piece designed specifically to help its owner tap into the rituals of slower living.
Visually, Huntington-Whiteley rooted Mémoire in four distinct “worlds,” designed to evoke a sense of nostalgia and romance: High Castle, Love Birds, Secret Garden, and Glass Lake. Each offers its own identity through pattern, scent, and colour. “The worlds bring such richness and depth to the aesthetic of the brand and I'm excited to see where people sit among them,” she says.
The line starts at £137; an investment to be sure, but every piece – from the pebbled leather notebooks and luggage tags that were made in an Italian family-run factory to the hand-blown glass vessels that house the candles – reflects a commitment to longevity. The candles come in two sizes, in thick, amber-toned glass casing that you can use as decor well after you’ve burned them. The leather journals (which Huntington-Whiteley says she carries with her everywhere) are substantial, with a sleek, leather-wrap closure that’s most practical for life on the go. And every item can be emblazoned with a personal touch, whether that’s initials, meaningful dates, or names. “Personalisation makes it something you want to hold on to. It makes something really feel like your own,” she adds.
For Huntington-Whiteley, who often finds herself on the road for work, the collection also doubles as a grounding ritual when travelling. “I travel a lot, and you realise how little you need; but it’s important to have certain things around you that make you feel like you’re at home. It’s often a small object that anchors you in an unfamiliar space,” she explains. For instance, she typically travels with photos of her children in her wallet or suitcase, and this is where the Mémoire double photo frame (that folds away like a small book) comes in handy. “You can pop it up on a bedside table wherever you are,” she shares. “It’s a small thing, but it makes you feel like your loved ones are with you at all times."
In fact, when conceptualising the brand, the mother of two frequently turned to family as a touchpoint, it’s impossible not to. “Motherhood changes your relationship to time and memory so profoundly. You become much more aware of what lasts; what’s worth keeping, and what you might want to pass on,” Huntington-Whiteley shares. Whether you’re looking for a thoughtful way to capture life’s big moments or simply want to find time for reflection in the day to day, her hope is that Mémoire provides the foundation for both, through well-designed objects that only become more special over time.
